You’ve traveled the nearly 1,000 km from Edmonton, Alberta to the border of the Northwest Territories. Or, you’ve endured the nearly 4,500 kilometres from Toronto, Ontario to the same spot. Now what do you do? Alexandra Falls would be a great start.
This waterfall on the Hay River stands 32 metres or 105 feet high. Alexandra Falls is not only awesome simply as an incredibly powerful waterfall, it is awesome in its solitude. On a ‘crowded’ day, you might have to share the view with nine or ten other people. Most of the time, you will have the waterfall to yourself.
That solitude, coupled with the mighty power and often chocolate milk coloured water, can be pretty intimidating. You can walk along the river and put your toes in at the crest of Alexandra Falls if you desire. There are no barriers. There are no park rangers to yell at you to get away from the edge. Just to give you an idea of the power, Alexandra Falls is among the top 30 waterfalls in the world for water volume – according to Wikipedia.
If you fall, chances are that no one will hear or see you. Your body might be found downstream in Hay River. But then again, it might not and you could float lifelessly into Great Slave Lake to spend the rest of eternity.
Alexandra Falls Image Slideshow
Of course, that’s not to say that your life is in any danger. Use common sense, don’t act like an ass, have respect for Mother Nature and you will live to share your beautiful travel photos with your friends.
Alexandra Falls is located about three kilometres upstream from Louise Falls. The two waterfalls together make up Twin Falls Gorge. The Hay River originates in Alberta. The 702 km long river travels into British Columbia before returning to Alberta then moving north into the Northwest Territories. After emptying into Great Slave Lake, the waters eventually travel up the MacKenzie River to the Arctic Ocean.
Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park
Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park includes both Alexandra Falls and Louise Falls. There is a 21 site campground adjacent to Louise Falls with incredibly spacious sites. From the campground, there is a well-maintained trail that leads back to Alexandra Falls.
Just a few minutes downstream, via the MacKenzie Highway, is the very small town of Enterprise. Here, you can get the essentials, including gasoline. It is strongly suggested that you carry cash and don’t rely on plastic when in the area. Outages can take several days to fix, rendering your debit and credit cards useless.
Hay River
Hay River is less than an hour away. The town of nearly 4,000 has all the amenities you need, including groceries, gas, restaurants and lodgings. There is even a very nice beach on the shores of the Great Slave Lake, right at the mouth of the Hay River. The town also has an airport with regular flights to more populated areas in the south.
Below is a video taken at the same visit with some up close views of the waterfall. It should be noted that we arrived here at the start of July. At that time, the official sunset is around 11:15pm and it never really gets close to dark before the sun rises again a few hours later.
Any of the long exposure images included in the above slideshow were taken right after that sunset. They were taken during a two hour hike that started at 10:30 at night. This is an awesome but eerie feeling that should be experienced.
The extremely long days don’t last forever, though. Less than a month later, I checked the sunset time and it was at 10:00. I figure the time adjusts by around three minutes each day. In the Greater Toronto Area, that number is around one minute.
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Alexandra Falls Video
